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Cast Your Fears on God

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  Scripture: 1 Peter 5:7 (ESV) 7  casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. Devotion:             This brief scripture contains a powerful truth. God wants us to cast all our fears and anxieties on Him. This sounds simple, but in reality, it may be one of the hardest things to do found in all of the Bible. For some reason, we humans can become very attached to our fears and the anxieties that they produce. We would rather take medication to calm our fears and anxieties than deal with them by giving them over to God. We like the illusion of control this gives us over our bodies.             As a result, we are among the most medicated people in the world. We pop anti-depressants and anti-anxiety pills as if they were candy. It gives us a feeling of control over these unwanted feelings. I am not saying that there are no legitimate uses for these drugs, but I am only stating that we, many times, overuse these medicines. Our medical profession is all too eager t
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Choose Not to be Afraid

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Scripture: Isaiah 41:10 (ESV) 10           Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God;                         I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Devotion:             This verse from the prophet Isaiah pictures God reassuring His people that He is in control and they can trust in Him to save them. This was spoken to the people when they had every logical reason to doubt God’s goodness and care for them. Enemies threatened to conquer and take them from their homes on every side. Doubt and despair were emotions that seemed natural when faced with these circumstances. Yet, God in this verse and those that follow speak to those fears and tell the people that their God was there in that time and place to save them just as He had been throughout their history. His reassurance is a beacon of hope in the darkest of times.             Many Americans today are feeling just like those Israelites in Isaiah’s
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Choose to Trust God

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    Let's delve into the words of Habakkuk 3:17-18 (ESV), a scripture that speaks of unwavering faith in the face of adversity.   17           Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines,                         the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food,                         the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls,             18           yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. Devotion:             These words from this prophet read as a total rejection of our modern culture. Habakkuk speaks of a deprivation most of us in this country cannot imagine. How does a person live with food deprivation and lack of all material comforts? It was not that long ago, in the 1930s, when the entire world was mired in an economic depression that caused massive shortages of food and other essentials. Such a scenario has yet to occur since. The question for us is:
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God Uses Our Weakness

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  Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (ESV) Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10  For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. Devotion:             Weakness is usually not a trait that we boast about in our society. Both men and women are taught that being strong and in command is the way to get ahead. Everyone likes to be seen as competent and confident. That fact is why today’s scripture seems so out of place. Paul, here, is not only admitting that he is weak and subject to all kinds of indignities but is proud of that fact. The fact that Jesus himself tells Paul to be proud of his weaknesses in the verses preceding the ones we are considering here does little to change our modern sense that one ought not to be proud of one's weakness.             Can we, as 21st-century Christians, learn to boast i
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God Bears Our Burdens

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  Scripture: Matthew 11:28-30 (ESV) 28  Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Devotion:             Today, we delve into a passage that may resonate with many of us. It's a conversation with Jesus, where He shares His wisdom about the rewards of following His path. We all carry our own unique burdens and worries each day. But Jesus, in His infinite compassion, assures us that by embracing Him, we can find rest from these heavy loads.             This burden-sharing Jesus speaks of in this passage was a revolutionary teaching for the Jewish people of His time. They were used to the scribes and other religious leaders adding spiritual tasks and burdens to them. Loads too great for anyone to bear alone. The list of laws and regulations they were given was so lengthy and co
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God, Help Us!

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Scripture: 2 Chronicles 20:12 (ESV)   O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” Devotion:             Many people despair at the state of our nation and, indeed, the world today. Everything seems to be going wrong at once, and no matter your news source, everything is up for grabs. There are wars and rumors of war across the globe—unrest on college campuses and general discontent with the direction the country is heading. We ask with the chronicler what God would have us do in these unsettled times.             The historical situation that prompted this heartfelt plea for help is this: The tribe of Judah was just told that they were about to be invaded by a great army of their enemies. At this time in their history, they were militarily weak and essentially defenseless against the invading armies. So, their king Jehoshaphat turned to the Lord
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God is Near the Brokenhearted

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  Scripture: Psalm 34:18 (ESV) 18           The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Devotion:             David, the author of this psalm, sends us a word of comfort. David knew about having a broken heart and a crushed spirit. The scriptures record many events in his life that must have been difficult to take in. David remained faithful, however, until the day of his death. This does not mean that David’s life was without sin, far from it. God was faithful to David even when David behaved poorly and fell into grievous sin. David knew this and was thankful and proclaimed the Lord’s faithfulness often.             What can we learn from David’s example? First and foremost, we can learn about God's unwavering faithfulness to us, even in the face of trials and temptations. David acknowledges in this psalm that God remains faithful even when we falter. In fact, God takes pleasure in being our beacon of hope when we are in our deepest distress.
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